Pumpkin season かぼちゃの季節

Now it is pumpkin season. At supermarkets in Vienna many different pumpkins can be seen. From very large ones to small ones are decorated in many colours and sizes. It is entertaining and humorous to watch.

I think what I as Japanese imagine in terms of taste and what local people do could be quite different. Usually in Japan, pumpkin dishes have a very sumptuous taste which is more dense and sweet than Austrian cuisine. A typical pumpkin dish, which my grandmother always prepared, is cooked and sweet. Not only pumpkins, my grandmother also cooked bean dishes with a sweet taste. As a child, such a sweet taste accompanying rice was not something I liked. Now however I enjoy such a taste and I miss it a lot. If one wanted to create the same taste with local pumpkins, one would not succeed. Local pumpkins are much harder and have a more neutral taste. Starting some years ago, a type of pumpkin named “Hokkaido” has been available in Austria. Hokkaido is one of the Japanese main islands. I do not know whether there is a relationship between those pumpkins and the island but I had hoped the taste would be similar to Japanese pumpkins. I tried to prepare it Japanese style but unfortunately just like all other available pumpkins in Austria, the taste did not turn out the way I intended. Nevertheless recently I bought a “Hokkaido” pumpkin and prepared it in different ways as salad, soup and stir-fry and enjoyed it.

By the way, today is Halloween. When I started living in Austria, there was no such thing here. But around the turn of the millennium this custom was slowly adopted here as well. Of course at Halloween pumpkins cannot be missing. This year however due to the Coronavirus, the Austrian government is asking people not to participate in Halloween parties. The government is already preparing the announcement of stricter measures. This year, the faces of Halloween pumpkin decorations, to my eyes appear not to be smiling…

かぼちゃの季節です。ウィーンのスーパーマーケットには様々な種類のかぼちゃが並んでいます。巨大なものから観賞用の小さいものまで、色も形も豊富です。とても愉快で、眺めているだけで楽しくなります。

多分、日本の方々が知っているかぼちゃの味と、ここのかぼちゃの味は違っていると思います。日本料理でのかぼちゃは、「ほくほく」とか「しっとり」などと表すことができるのが普通だと思います。しかしこちらのものは固くて、水っぽくて、調理をしても日本のかぼちゃ料理のようにはなりません。私の祖母は、かぼちゃや豆をとても甘い味付けで炊いてました。子供の頃はご飯と共に食べるには甘すぎるように感じて好めませんでしたが、今ではあの味をとても懐かしく思います。数年前からこちらで「Hokkaido」と名付けられた種類のかぼちゃを見かけるようになりました。「北海道」と関連性があるかもしれない、と期待して早速購入し、日本風に炊いてみましたが、こちらのかぼちゃとほとんど変わりない出来上がりで、がっかりしました。それでも今年もこの「Hokkaido」で、サラダやスープを作り、美味しくいただいています。

ところで今日はハロウィンです。私がウィーンに住み始めた頃はこの習慣はありませんでした。しかし2000年ごろから徐々にこちらでもこれを祝う人が増えてきたように思います。もちろんハロウィンにかぼちゃは欠かせませんよね。しかし今年はコロナ禍のため、オーストリア政府はハロウィンパーティーは控えるように、と呼びかけています。更なる厳しい規制も発表されることになっています。今年は、ハロウィンのかぼちゃの顔も、笑っていないように私には見えるのです…

Pictures by Yuka Simeno, October 2020 in Vienna